Gov. Scott Walk­er was 800 miles from Madis­on, in a hotel con­fer­ence room two blocks from the White House — a room filled with na­tion­al re­port­ers — after a week of in­ter­views with na­tion­al me­dia out­lets and about to em­bark on a na­tion­wide book tour, when he made a de­clar­a­tion.

“I’m not fo­cused on the na­tion­al,” the Wis­con­sin Re­pub­lic­an said. “I’m fo­cused on be­ing gov­ernor.”

The half-hearted dis­claim­er aside, it’s clear from Walk­er’s sched­ule, his book, and his turn on the na­tion­al stage that he wants to be a part of the 2016 pres­id­en­tial con­ver­sa­tion. Walk­er bragged about his abil­ity to draw “Obama-Walk­er” voters, des­pite the ideo­lo­gic­al gulf between him and the pres­id­ent.

Best known for do­ing battle with uni­ons in his home state and then be­com­ing the first gov­ernor to beat back a re­call, Walk­er said he and his party need to re­main fo­cused on fisc­al and eco­nom­ic is­sues — the “bread and but­ter of what the party’s about.”

Sure, he said he’s “pro-life” and, “I don’t apo­lo­gize for that. But I don’t fo­cus on it. I don’t ob­sess with it.” He kept try­ing to steer the con­ver­sa­tion to eco­nom­ic is­sues as re­port­ers quer­ied him on so­cial ones, such as gay mar­riage.

“Without be­ing in­sult­ing, but you kind of make my point about how me­dia seem to be more ob­sessed with so­cial is­sues than the av­er­age voters,” Walk­er said at one point.

He brushed off 2016 talk at the same time as he said the per­fect can­did­ate would look, well, kind of like him.

“An ideal can­did­ate to me would be a cur­rent or former gov­ernor,” Walk­er said. “Just be­cause I think gov­ernors have ex­ec­ut­ive ex­per­i­ence and, more im­port­antly, I think there’s a real sense across Amer­ica that people want an out­sider.”

He not­ably drew an “ex­cep­tion” to this rule for home state Rep. Paul Ry­an, the 2012 vice pres­id­en­tial nom­in­ee. But that still leaves out many of the top tier of 2016 GOP con­tenders in the Sen­ate, in­clud­ing Rand Paul, Marco Ru­bio, and Ted Cruz.

Un­like the oth­er Re­pub­lic­an gov­ernor from a blue state be­ing touted as pres­id­en­tial tim­ber, Chris Christie of New Jer­sey, Walk­er still faces a tough reelec­tion in 2014 ahead of any po­ten­tial pres­id­en­tial run.

It’s one of the chief reas­ons Walk­er must re­main so cagey about 2016.

Cor­rec­tion: A pre­vi­ous ver­sion of this story mis­quoted Scott Walk­er as say­ing “An ideal can­did­ate to me would be a cur­rent re­former gov­ernor.” He said “An ideal can­did­ate to me would be a cur­rent or former gov­ernor.”

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) are threatening to block the spending bill—and prevent the Senate from leaving town—"because it would not extend benefits for retired coal miners for a year or pay for their pension plans. The current version of the bill would extend health benefits for four months. ... Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Thursday afternoon moved to end debate on the continuing resolution to fund the government through April 28. But unless Senate Democrats relent, that vote cannot be held until Saturday at 1 a.m. at the earliest, one hour after the current funding measure expires."

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PARLIAMENT VOTED 234-56

South Korean President Impeached

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The South Korean parliament voted on Friday morning to impeach President Park Geun-hye over charges of corruption, claiming she allowed undue influence to a close confidante of hers. Ms. Park is now suspended as president for 180 days. South Korea's Constitutional Court will hear the case and decide whether to uphold or overturn the impeachment.

Source:

CLOSED FOR INAUGURAL ACTIVITIES

NPS: Women’s March Can’t Use Lincoln Memorial

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Participants in the women's march on Washington the day after inauguration won't have access to the Lincoln Memorial. The National Park Service has "filed documents securing large swaths of the national mall and Pennsylvania Avenue, the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial for the inauguration festivities. None of these spots will be open for protesters."

Source:

2.1 PERCENT IN 2017

President Obama Boosts Civilian Federal Pay

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President Obama on Thursday announced a pay raise for civilian federal employees of 2.1 percent come January 2017. He had said multiple times this year that salaries would go up 1.6 percent, so the Thursday announcement came as a surprise. The change was likely made to match the 2.1 percent increase in salary that members of the military will receive.

Source:

SHUTDOWN LOOMING

House Approves Spending Bill

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The House has completed it's business for 2016 by passing a spending bill which will keep the government funded through April 28. The final vote tally was 326-96. The bill's standing in the Senate is a bit tenuous at the moment, as a trio of Democratic Senators have pledged to block the bill unless coal miners get a permanent extension on retirement and health benefits. The government runs out of money on Friday night.